Safe Haven | Yuzuru Hanyu

62.

Yuzuru should have guessed that Emma would be the first to encourage him to cross the border between amateur to professional skater.

He had known it was time for a while, but now with COVID finally calming down, he could give shows without worrying about the fans losing opportunities to see his skating.

One thing hadn't changed, he still didn't want to be an "Idol" of any kind. There was for sure the prospect of getting more fans and hopefully bringing new people into skating with the plans on his mind, but that didn't mean that he would sacrifice the importance of being an athlete first.

And, of course, his private life was supposed to stay exactly like that.

When Emma spoke about the possibility of opening a YouTube channel, he eyed her cautiously for a few seconds and considered it.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea...

There would be, for sure, some issues with copyright if he wanted to skate to his famous programs, but he had a whole team that could potentially help with that.

At least the legal side of things.

He started planning even before Fantasy on Ice, from legal requirements to ideas for the new challenges that faced ahead.

There was no doubt that it wouldn't be easy, but he was going to give his absolute best and hope something good came out of it. He wouldn't be Yuzuru Hanyu if things weren't like that.

His ankle slowly improved its condition. It was far from being healed when he got to Fantasy on Ice and it certainly hurt whenever he landed a jump.

Life had gotten so busy that no, they didn't fulfill the bet until the show.
It seemed like Emma's joke had become a reality.

Out of nowhere and just with a few very random and vague contacts, Yuzuru had been planning a show in the winter.

Obviously, no dates had been settled and neither were the venues, even if they already had a pretty decent idea of where and when they wanted to hold the shows. Yuzu didn't want to make any concrete plans until the announcement was out.

Meanwhile, Emma had been seriously looking for a new job or career path that she could take with her natural skills. Feeling useless was not nice and she wanted to have a purpose.

Her specialization in Oncology was finished a year prior but she still didn't make any efforts to try and follow that path once she was back in Japan and with Yuzuru.

But now, not even being his bodyguard, the will to do something else had been there for a few months, even before the Olympics.

Yuzu had his big transition and maybe Em could have a change of path too.

The one important thing was that she was able to stay by his side.

Finding a research lab in Japan willing to take her wasn't that hard. They were constantly looking for people fluent in English and even with her limited Japanese, coming from a distinguished University and medical program helped her get a spot in a lab in the Tohoku region.

Emma was excited beyond words when she finally gathered the courage to tell Yuzuru about it.

Sure, she was a bit afraid of his reaction, but like the rational part of her brain thought, he was nothing but encouraging.

"I'm proud of you, Em." he had told her after a big, warm hug. "You're going to be amazing."

One of the advantages of working in research is that you can make your own schedule as long as you deliver results.

Yuzuru being a night owl, it was oh natural that she had adjusted to that same schedule over the past months, and having a job that allowed her the flexibility of going to the lab and working at night while the skater was practicing, was something very valuable to her.

Even as he went to Tokyo for the first stop of FaoI in Makuhari, she was easily able to follow along and support him from the distance as best as she could.

The assistant disguise had long been dismissed when it became clear that they were too close to make it believable.

She didn't love to sacrifice the backstage access for their privacy but it was for the better. This was something they were both willing to let go of when it meant that Yuzuru could focus on the show instead of worrying about hiding his feelings.

So she watched from the middle of the crowd as too many women cheered for the man she shared a bed with.

Truly, it was easier to do this when she was backstage. Seeing how crazy these people were for him made her a bit jealous but not in a bad way.

It was part of his career and she knew that very well.

Still, Emma needed a little bit of time to get used to the whole thing.

But in the end, she found that the love of the fans was something she loved more than she hated.

He needed the support and these were the people that allowed him to keep going and try new challenges.

Appreciating them was at the top of the list of her priorities in order to get Yuzuru the professional career he deserved.

But at the end of the show, he would be her Yuzu again.

And we'll, that Yuzu had a promise to fulfill.

Using all of her courage, Emma quickly texted him as she left the venue amongst his fans.

'Remember our bet? You better hurry up to the hotel as soon as you can'